My Transformers collecting has slowed immensely in recent years. I collected quite a few of the initial wave of Siege figures, but I didn’t really get a lot of Earthrise or Kingdom figures. The figures were good, but with the rising cost of things, Transformers purchases became less frequent for me. I mainly picked up figures that I never had a good G1 version of, or had never had any version of before.

For a while Hasbro has been doing their Studio Series line mainly featuring more highly decoed version of their mainline movie figures. I have a few Bayformer figures that were gifted to me, but in general the Studi Series line wasn’t of any interest to me. And then they announced the ’86 movie line.

The ’86 Studio Series line of figures are inspired by the original animated movie, Transformers The Movie. As an 80’s kid and huge fan of the original series(I still watch the episodes to this day), I felt that this Studio Series line is what Transformers should always be in the mainline. Great paint deco’s, fun and intuitive transformations, and packed with great accessories.

Hasbro’s Transformers team revealed new ’86 Transformers figures and I am loving what I am seeing. Two of the figures are repaint of previous figures(Kup and Cliffjumper), one new-ish figure(Junkheap) and one all new figure(Sludge).

I love the ’86 line, but won’t be getting all of these. Kup is a pass. I like the initial version well enough. The battle damage deco isn’t enough of a difference to warrant a new purchase. Still, if you see it on the pegs and missed the first version you should get it. It’s a great figure.

Cliffjumper is a curious addition to this line. Initially released in the Earthrise wave of War for Cybertron figures, again there doesn’t seem to be much here to warrant a new purchase unless you missed the first version.

Junkheap is a definite buy. Unlike the recent Sweeps figure, their is a lot of new parts and changes that make this a new figure that can stand on its own despite using the Wreck-Gar mold.

Sludge is the gold star reveal for me! I missed out on Grimlock. I passed mainly because the old Masterpiece figure still holds up well. I recently bought Slug(Slag for fans of the original series) and it is a great figure. It’s a little bit smaller than Masterpiece Grimlock, but I always envisioned him tower over the other Dinobots. I am so happy they are continuing to keep new Dinobots as Leader size figures. Dinobots should never be deluxe size. They were always bigger than the other Autobots and should always scale that way when they are released.

I watched the livestream while I was at work, but I had the volume turned down so I didn’t catch all the details. I have linked the video for those who want to watch.